Sleeping-car construction



Apxrfifi 8, 1924. HA8,995

E. FLAGG SLEEPING GAR CONSTRUCTION Filed June '15 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 UUU U Buns as UUUU DUDE] DUE] l/VVEA/TOR EENESZ' 1 2.1466

A TTORIVEVS A ER s, 1924. am s E. FLAGG SLEEPING CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed June 15. 1923 v 2 $heets-5heet 2 \mw A TTOR/VEVS during the daytime, a feature which is not Patented Apr. 8, lQZd.

unit are ET FLAGG, OF N Y0 N. Y.

snnnrme-can CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed June 15, 192B. Serial in. 645,689.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that l, ERNEST FLAGG,13. citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York,

.have invented a new and ,lmproved Sleeping-Car Construction, of which the following is a full. clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a sleeping car construction, and has for an object the provision of means whereby the maximum ofcomfort and economy of space and movement in sleeping cars is obtainable.

Another object is to provide means whereby the people occupying a sleeper are enabled in privacy to occupy their beds even attainable in accordance with the present practice. p

A further object is to provide aneans whereby the necessity of getting into upmr berths by the eliminated. v

The invention also includes other objects which will be apparent from a considera tion of the description and claims when 7 taken in connection with the accompanying and each compartment is drawings. a

in sleeping .cars as at present arranged there is considerable waste room. The cars are higher than necessary, thereby requiring space which could be more eficlently used or, on the other hand, done away with. lit is hardly necessary to describe the disadvantages and discomforts which generally arise in the use or sleeping cars as now constructed. In accordance with my invention there is no loss in the number ofberths and yet privacy is everywhere secured. Every bed can be easily and conveniently reached 7 providw with its own toilet'facilities. I a

The invention is illustrated in the drawings, of which- Fiel is a, :-11.'2i the car; v

F ig.,2 is a diagraatic section through the compartments;

Fig. 3 is a similar diagratic section en through the corridor g length between the shown in the drawings, the sleeping car 1 present method is substantially matic plan view of toward the com- Fig. 5 is a section taken through one of the lounging rooms; J

Fig. 6 is a section taken through the car showing the relation of the compartment berths and the upper series of berths;

Fig. 7 is a section through a compartment looking toward the toilet space of said compartment; and. V

Fig. 8 is a section through the'stairs leading to'the upper series of berths.

The form of the invention shown in the drawings is a preferred form, although it is understood :that modifications in the con-" struction and arrangement of the parts and in the character of the materials used may be adopted without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In, accordance with this invention as is provided with a. corridor 2 running throughout the entire length of the car along one side thereof and extending between front and rear platforms 3 and 4:. Throughout the length of the car there is provided a plurality of compartments such as 5 and 6, each compartment separate and opening into the corridor through a doorway and a couple of steps such as 7. Each compartment is provided with a door 8 leading to a small s 9 used as a toilet place, containing a closet 10 and a washbowl or basin 11. This washbasin is adapted by means not shown to be disposed out of the way when not in use but can be pulled forward when desired to be used so that its discharge opening is over the toilet.

Each compartment is also provided with a lower berth, such'as 12, the back of which 13 can be swung up, as shown in Fig. 2, at night to form the usual upper berth. In practice it is generally desirable, and by means not shown the seat of the lower berth 12 can be dropped a few inches so thatwhen the k 13 of this seat is moved upward to form an upper berth there will be plenty of head room between the two. Any desired numbers of these compartments can be provided throughout the car, each one having its own private toilet facilities and each opening into a common corridor. 7

It will be noticed that each toilet space or room is located beneath a stairway, such as 14, run up between these comments. These stairs extend upward to a point approximately level with the top of the compartment, and the car is provided ice,

at its level, above the top of the compartment, with a series of upper berths such as 'and 16, there being two upper berths such as 17 to contain baggage, clothing, etc.-

served by each stairway, as shown particularly in Fig. at, These upper berths are fixed and can be made up during the daytime so that the persons holding them can rest during the day time with privacy, a thing absolutely unobtainable in the present construction. At the foot of each berth is a closet,

Toward either end ofthe car are washrooms, such as 18 and 19, for the male and female passengers, provided also with toilet facilities, as well as rest or day rooms such as 20 and 21.

It will be noted, particularly from Fig. 2, that that portion of the car in which the compartments and the upper series of berths are located has its lower level depressed, as indicated by the numeral 22 in Fig. 2, so as to provide plenty of head room, the end compartments, namely, the day rooms and the Wash rooms, not requiring this amount of head room and being located over the trucks do not have to be depressed.

In this construction, therefore, there is no loss of berths and yet privacy is everywhere secured. Even the upper berths, by-

reason of being private, can be gotten into with not nearly as much discomfort as if this operation had to be performed out in the open car, as is generally the case. The

corridor, running along one side of the car,

into which all the compartments open, provides a readily accessible passageway for the passengers; the number of Stairways leading to the berths above the compartments can be curtained off at the bottom so that substantially complete privacy is obtained, each stairway serving two berths and the top step of the stairway being only about a foot or two below the berth, so that a person can sit on the berth when he'has reached the top of the step. As this series of, upper berths afi'ords no space for the passengers to sit down during the daytime, the day rooms are provided. There is not much mechanism in the ordinary Pullman but even this small amount is here entirely avoided. It is not necessary to fold up and put away the upper series 'of beds in the daytime except in the compartments, and

in these the beds are made up as in a home or in a hotel. The passenger may enjoy the comfort of lying on his bed in the daytime if he chooses, and he does not have to go through the discomforting process of getting into an upper berth in the open publiccorridor. The extra head room obtalned throughout the compartments by depressing the floor of the car is not necessary but is desirable, as it increases the comfort.

Therefore, it will be readily seen that I have provided a car having as much space for berths and as much passenger carrying capacity as the ordinary car but in "which the construction and arrangement of the fort and convenience is achieved, so that on long trips a passenger feels infinitely more at home and is contented by reason of his having any desired amount of pri- 'vacy at all times.

What is claimed is:

13A sleeping car construction which in cludes a plurality of compartments, a series of berths disposed in the car above said compartments, and Stairways extending from a common corridor along one side of the car up to said series of berths, said stairways extending between adjacent compartments.

2. A sleeping car construction which includes a plurality of compartments, a stairway disposed between adjacent compartparts is such that decidedly increased comments, a series of berths arranged in the car above or on top of the compartments in pairs, and a common corridor extending along one side of the car to which said stairway is connected.

3. A sleeping car construction which includes a plurality of compartments 0011- taining upper and lower berths, a toilet room connected to each compartment, a pair of berths disposed in the car above each compartment, a corridor extending along the side of the car, and a stairway extending from the corridor upwardly to each pair of berths above each compartment,

ioo

said toilet room beingdisposed'in the com- 5. A sleeping car construction which includes separate and independent upper and lower sleeping compartments connected separately and independently to a common corridor.

ERNEST FLAGG. 

